Luxury Japan Trip Review: Takayama, Kanazawa, Kyoto, Osaka, Tokyo

The initial planning with this travel company was very good. Because Japan had been closed to tourists until the fall of 2022 we changed our travel dates and they accommodated the changes for us, so pre-trip I would rate them as 4-5.
However just weeks prior to our April 24 departure there were some very disappointing changes:
- our hotel in Takayama was not booked for the 2 nights that was confirmed in our itinerary. They wanted to have us stay 1 night in Takayama and then move to Kanazawa. We did not like that plan as it gave us 2 days of travel instead of 1 and little time to enjoy either location. I suggested we just move the 2 nights to Kanazawa, which was done. The hotel option in Kanazawa at this late date was not a hotel we would have chosen. 

Our itinerary and discussions around a hotel on Kyoto was for a specific room (larger room with a terrace) which we paid for for 5 nights. However, again before departure we were told that they couldn’t accommodate us for 5 nights in that room but would move us to an upgraded room for the 5th night. That didn’t make us happy as it meant packing up twice unnecessarily, but we were assured the hotel would move our belongings for us as we had an early start on day 5 with our guide. When we returned after a long day of touring the room we were moved to was smaller, had no terraces and no view. Again we had to deal with the hotel and Shohei to get a room that was equal to or an upgrade from our booking. 

We also did not have our detailed itinerary with all our guides listed one week before departure which I had to ask for. In looking at the final itinerary I noticed that the transport from Kyoto to Osaka had been changed from private car and driver to train. However I had been clearly instructed to pre-purchase a 7 day JR rail pass. That rail pass expired the day before the trip to Osaka. Our itinerary was then changed back to car and driver.

We also had discussions with our travel agency prior to departure about the hotel they had us booked at. It was a 4 star hotel and the current reviews were not great so we decided to change. This discussion was initiated by our travel team. The up-charge for the new hotel was greater than what I could book it for personally on my own. I asked for a refund from the original hotel (which was done, although not a very substantial amount) and I booked our hotel in Osaka. 

The trains were we were instructed to book between Kanazawa and Kyoto had a 9 minute timeframe to change trains. We questioned this short window several times and we were assured it was plenty of time to make the change. Well, our first train was 10 minutes behind schedule (not common in Japan) but it created a very stressful train ride and a rush to make the connection. As we had luggage to transfer, and we had to go up to a different platform it was extremely tight. We ended up just getting on the first train car we came to and as the train departed we had to move ourselves and our luggage all the way through the train to the first class section. Then when we arrived in Kyoto our guide was not on the platform to meet us. After texting with Shohei and a 25 minute wait, our guide found us. 

On our traveling days no accommodation had been made for lunches. When we arrived in Takayama it as after 2 pm and our guide was ready to get us going on our 3 hour tour. We ended up eating an ice cream cone for lunch! If we had been informed we could have bought a lunch before boarding the train and had it on the train ride. Before our train ride to Kyoto we specifically asked if we should purchase some lunch before boarding the train and Shohei said no, our guide will stop for lunch, well our guide was not aware of that, plus an unplanned lunch stop reduces their time for the tour with the guide  

When we arrived in Tokyo at the start of our trip we were told by the hotel that our booking was only 4 nights, yet our itinerary was for 5. Again we had to get them to correct that error.